Mandaue City suspends village chief, 2 kagawads
The barangay captain of Labogon, Mandaue City and two of his councilors were placed under 60-day preventive suspension effective yesterday for alleged violation of Republic Act (RA) 3019 or Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Named respondents are village chief Renato Suson, and kagawads Alfredo Estrada and Benwilson Bodo.
“Perusing the evidence submitted on records, this Committee (on Good Government, Public Ethics, and Accountability) finds that the evidence of guilt against the respondents is strong, that it involves gross dishonesty and grave misconduct,” stated in the suspension order.
The three officials reportedly failed to show receipts of the construction materials they bought for the village.
“The fact that there was no actual receipt of deliveries of 65 bags of cement, 5 cubic meters of sand, and 1,000 pieces of hollow blocks are very serious charges, aggravated by the fact of non-compliance with the provisions of RA 9184 as to the procurement of the aforesaid materials,” the document stated.
Lawyer James Sayson of the Mandaue City Legal Office said he went to the barangay hall together with representatives from the Department of Interior and Local Governance (DILG) to serve the order but the respondents were not around.
Suson reportedly left the barangay hall moments before the team that served the order had arrived.
Barangay councilors Estrada and Bodo are on leave.
Sayson and his team just posted a copy of the suspension order on the wall of the barangay hall because the barangay secretary refused to receive the document.
Sayson said that Suson reportedly instructed the secretary not to receive any document in the barangay hall yesterday.
The order came from the city government and was approved “en masse” this month.
Sayson explained that the city council can “discipline” a barangay official with the provisions of the Local Government Code as a legal basis.
With the order in effect, Sayson said the first councilor, Amadeo Manatad, shall serve as the acting barangay captain.
The remaining barangay officials can still constitute quorum during meetings because five of the eight officials are still active.
In the document, the suspension order is not meant to be a penalty but a means taken to ensure the proper and impartial conduct of an investigation.
Sayson said that it is also imposed so that the respondents cannot hamper the course of the investigation through the use of the respondents' influence and authority.
The FREEMAN tried to reach Suson for his statement on this matter but he did not respond.
There is still a pending case against the three officials in the Sangguniang Panlungsod.